


you're late for the end of the world

by madpunk



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra (She-Ra) Swears, Catra has BPD, F/F, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Glimmer (She-Ra) Swears, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, POV Glimmer (She-Ra), Subtle flirting, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23661874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madpunk/pseuds/madpunk
Summary: Trapped together on Horde Prime's spaceship, Glimmer and Catra find themselves forming a strange bond out of their desperation to feel comforted in Etheria's darkest hour.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	you're late for the end of the world

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short fic about post-season 4, events courtesy of what might happen if Glimmer and Catra get confined in the same cell aboard Horde Prime's spaceship. Focusing almost exclusively on Glimmer analyzing her feelings for Adora while she develops an odd bond with Catra over her bitterness towards a certain mutual ex-friend. Orphaned work sort of

_"Make yourself at home."_ Oh, the irony. Glimmer chewed the inside of her cheek to stop herself from spitting out a bitter remark--she was far too exhausted by now to even speak, let alone conjur enough strength for a riposte.

The cell was cold and dark, save for the window stretching across the furthest wall to reveal a vast expanse of space. It was pretty, Glimmer conceded with an internal eye-roll, but she hated to think of her prison as such.

Ah well, perhaps she could do with a few hours of much-needed sleep. Glimmer struggled to walk against the ache and burn of her body, but forced her legs onward and all but collapsed against the domed window. She pressed her cheek against the cool glass, hissing a sigh between her teeth at the unexpected chill, and dully counted the collection of colorful nebulas. She wondered which one Etheria resided in before dozing off, unaware of the moment she allowed her eyes to close.

_The bed sheets were warm against Glimmer's frozen skin, and she snuggled further against Adora's chest to heighten the sensation. It didn't do much, for whatever reason, but the feeling of her friend's gentle breathing and heartbeat against her face made up for it plenty. She wondered if she could get away with inhaling the faint sweetness of Adora's scent without being noticed._

_Adora pushed a strand of hair from Glimmer's eyes, giggling at how it immediately fell back into place. Glimmer couldn't help but laugh along, finding herself almost numbed by the softness of Adora's hand._

_'Do that again,' she wanted to say, but didn't._

_'H_ _old my hand_ _,' she wanted to say, but didn't._ _'Lace your fingers with mine.'_

 _She didn't know why i_ _t was so entrancing_ _, but had never bothered to question it. And it would stay that way._

 _"Glimmer..." Adora's voice came, soft and sweet, and it was all s_ _he_ _could do not to sigh lovingly at the sound._

_"You really know how to cheer me up, Adora," said Glimmer while locking eyes with her best friend, nearly losing herself in those baby blues. "I love you."_

_"Love me...?" Adora froze at once, reeling back with a look of pure hate. It was then Glimmer realized something was very wrong with this memory._ _Wait, a memory? Was it even a memory?_ _Was she dreaming?_ _W_ _as this real?_

 _A slow c_ _ackle_ _built up around the room, echoing deep within her mind and rumbling l_ i _ke thunder inside her chest_ _, though Adora didn't seem to be t_ _he voice behind it_ _. But still, she grinned,_ _and_ _began to chuckle along_ _, her once beautiful l_ _augh_ _escalating into a reverberation of manic shrieking as the lights around them flickered_ _haphazardly._

_"You don't love me, Glimmer," Adora sneered, and Glimmer wanted to reach out and bring her back, hold her again, but felt frozen to the spot. "You never have. You don't love anyone but yourself."_

_Neither of the voices faltered, only growing louder and louder until they were ear-splitting and Glimmer had to grind her teeth together just to channel the agony it was creating. "Adora..." She couldn't even hear herself._

_"Your mother died for_ nothing _. You're a useless brat who doesn't know how to run a kingdom, and all you've been doing is relying on_ Shadow Weaver _to do all your dirty work for you."_

 _"Please... Stop...!" A familiar wetness cascaded stripes down Glimmer's cheeks, and she clenched her eyes tight enough to see stars. "I'm trying my best...! It's not_ my _fault_ _that_ none _of you understand!"_

 _Adora g_ _iggled_ _, somehow overlapping her other laughter that already echoed mercilessly around the bedroom. "There you go again, always shifting the blame. It's never your fault, is it?"_

 _Glimmer couldn't articulate her pained thoughts past incomprehensible groaning and whining, settling on just balling her fists around Adora's jacket. But when her friend stood up almost with disgust, she found herself f_ _everishly_ _scrambling to grab nothing. The bed disappeared beneath her, and she was left falling, falling, falling..._

_"Well, Princess?"_

_All but one of the voices faded and Glimmer r_ _ecognized_ _the remaining laughter t_ _o be_ _her own._

" _Princess Sparkles_!"

"Gah!" Glimmer jerked awake, rubbing at the soreness of her cheek that'd been pressing against the window for who knows how long. She rubbed at her eyes, which were dry and burning, and tried to make sense of the scene around her past the sticky haze of sleep. "...Catra?"

"That's what they call me." Catra towered tall above her, features tight with exhaustion while she scowled at Glimmer's tensed-up body below. "Get up. I'm not letting you sleep while we're stuck in here."

Glimmer allowed her thoughts a moment to recollect, still stewing in the remnants of her nightmare. She didn't think to respond before stretching her tender limbs and arching her jaw into an elongated yawn.

"You're welcome, by the way." Catra sounded unforgiving as she sat cross-legged on the wall opposite from Glimmer. "For saving your life, and all that."

"What are you..." Glimmer was about to make a hot retort, but then the events from the past day came flooding back to her in a shameful rush. "...Oh."

Catra _tch_ ed with an irritated lash of her tail and tipped her head to the side. "So guess we're both fuck-ups then, huh?"

Glimmer blinked slowly, and Catra ran her claws down the sides of her face with an exaggerated groan. "Don't you realize how _royally_ you fucked up, _y_ _our h_ _ighness_?"

" _Excuse_ me?" Was this idiot _trying_ to get on her last nerve? Of course Glimmer knew how badly she had screwed everything up--what was the point of rubbing it in her face like this? "In case you haven't noticed, Catra, I'm in a _fucking prison cell_! I got captured by Hordak's _c_ _reepy_ _uncle_ or some shit and I _know_ it's because of my actions!" She was grinning madly now, and at this point wasn't sure if it was from true insanity or a mere sarcastic gesture.

"But hey," she continued, fanning one hand to the side as if making an offer, "maybe if _Adora_ and _Bow_ had listened to me, then none of us would be stuck in this shit fest!"

At that, Catra smirked, giving a rather amused eyeroll. It felt a little... _comforting_. "Oh, _believe me_ , I know _exactly_ how you feel _._ " She chuckled, scooting ever-so-slightly closer to Glimmer. "Adora is _so_ stubborn. Now, I don't know about your friend _Bow_ here, but _Adora_ _definitely_ never listens to anyone but herself."

"Tell me about it!" Glimmer's grin was genuine now. "And it's _my_ kingdom, and I think I know how to run it! It's not like Adora's ever had experience being the leader of something, right?" She topped the last part off with a light giggle, and watched as Catra's eyes lit up in the most unsettling way. But for some reason, it didn't ward her off like it should have.

"Oh, I _know_ ," Catra said, giving Glimmer a languid up and down once-over. She slid further toward her until their knees were almost touching. "When she got appointed as Force Captain, the first thing she did was take the two of us on a cruise ride." Catra spoke casually, raising her brows together with a forlorn, far-away look in her eyes. "When we crashed in the Whispering Woods--" she reached out to play with Glimmer's hair now-- "she didn't even bother about me. Just... Took off with the damn sword and left."

Glimmer's jaw fell slack, and she felt herself leaning into Catra's touch. "She pretty much left me, too..." Wait, what was she doing? Catra was the _enemy_ here. Whether or not she saved her life was inconsequential to all the other heinous acts she'd committed against Brightmoon in the past. "Catra, I..."

"...I bet if I got you on my side, you'd just leave me, too."

"Huh?"

Catra's hand wavered at Glimmer's hair, gradually falling to the floor. "What's the point in trying anymore? I've got no one left, and I deserve it. All of it." Her face remained expressionless despite the tears welling around the bottoms of her eyes.

"Catra, it's... Okay." Despite the long hatred and bitterness between the two, Glimmer felt oddly... Sympathetic. She reached out tenderly to brush the tears that had spilled down Catra's cheeks, but was met with a firm grip around her wrist.

"Don't." Catra grimaced and tightened her hand around Glimmer. "Just fuck off. Forget I said anything." She tore away and retreated back to the corner she'd started in, back turned towards Glimmer.

For some reason, though she knew it was stupid, Glimmer was hit by an overwhelming pang of _hurt_. Like she'd just been struck through the chest with an arrow, as if she were reliving the recent fights with Adora all at once.

Fine. If Catra didn't want any sympathy, then she wouldn't get any. Glimmer gave a noise of discontent, intentionally loud enough for her cellmate to hear, and slumped back against the glass. She'd just begun falling back into an alleviating slumber when the door to their cell slammed open, causing the both of them to startle.

"Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon." Horde Prime's stoic clone sounded like it was reading from a script, and Glimmer wondered if she would be able to tell the difference between one of them and Hordak.

"Y-yes?" Glimmer tried to mask the fear in her voice to no avail.

"Horde Prime requests your presence at once."

Ah, shit. Glimmer swallowed a hard lump in her throat as she clambered up to her feet, giving one last look at Catra before she was nearly out the door. She was not met with so much as a glance.

"Right, I'm coming."

Once again, Catra was left alone in the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> hrnghhhhhhh i just kinda. had a sudden whim to write she-ra fanfiction so i said fuck jojo and his bizarre adventure let's go lesbians !


End file.
